This disclosure relates to headphones, and in particular, headphones with an external pressure equalization path.
Devices that block the ear canal, such as headphones, hearing aids, and earplugs, tend to cause an amplification within the ear canal of low-frequency sounds originating from or passing through the body. This is referred to as the occlusion effect, and can be unpleasant. Many such devices relieve the discomfort of the occlusion effect by providing a vent or port connecting air inside the ear canal with outside air. This vent or port is sometimes referred to as a pressure equalization, or PEQ port. While it slightly compromises the ability of the device to block external noise, the relief a PEQ port provides from the occlusion effect can be worth the trade-off. These vents or ports, in prior solutions, have been provided as holes or tubes through the device. In headphones or hearing aids having a rigid inner electronics bud and an outer, flexible ear tip, PEQ ports have been provided as holes or tubes through the ear tip, through the inner bud, or both. At least one design, described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,189,846, provides the PEQ port as a groove on the inner, mating surface of the ear tip, with the outer surface of the ear bud closing the open side of the groove to form a tube when the ear tip is fitted to the ear bud.